October 05, 2026

The Chance

by Arthur Sze


The blue-black mountains are etched 
with ice. I drive south in fading light.

The lights of my car set out before 

me, and disappear before my very eyes.

And as I approach thirty, the distances 

are shorter than I guess? The mind 

travels at the speed of light. But for 

how many people are the passions

ironwood, ironwood that hardens and hardens?

Take the ex-musician, insurance salesman, 

who sells himself a policy on his own life; 

or the magician who has himself locked 

in a chest and thrown into the sea, 

only to discover he is caught in his own chains.

I want a passion that grows and grows.

To feel, think, act, and be defined 

by your actions, thoughts, feelings.

As in the bones of a hand in an X-ray, 

I want the clear white light to work 

against the fuzzy blurred edges of the darkness:

even if the darkness precedes and follows 

us, we have a chance, briefly, to shine.

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